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Post-uprising interim government is set to present today its maiden national budget worth Tk 7.9 trillion for the fiscal year 2025-26, avowedly aligned with reforms and income parity.
With no functioning parliament existing following the July-August changeover, the budget will be presented at 3.00pm outside Jatiya Sangsad (national parliament) and broadcast simultaneously on state-run BTV and other private media outlets.
Finance Adviser of the interim government Dr Salehuddin Ahmed will roll out the budget through a pre-recorded speech.
For the first time since the independence of Bangladesh, the national budget is being contractionary compared to the previous years, as the current government walks a tightrope in the given situation marked by economic disruptions because of political unrest.
The last budget, presented under the Awami League government by former Finance Minister Abul Hasan Mahmud Ali, was Tk 7.97 trillion in size for the outgoing fiscal year 2024-25.
People familiar with the developments told the FE that the interim administration would prioritise restoration of macroeconomic stability, with a focus on curbing wayward inflation.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the upcoming budget will incorporate welfare initiatives to expand social-safety nets -- both by increasing the number of beneficiaries and the size of allowances -- and to create employment opportunities, particularly in rural areas.
Infrastructure development, especially road construction and renovation, will be stimulated to support this effort.
The Awami League government collapsed on August 05 following a student-mass uprising, leaving a vacuum filled with this interim government headed by Prof Yunus as Chief Adviser.
However, budget documents will be made available on the Finance Division's official website.
A similar budget presentation outside parliament also happened earlier under military or military-backed governments.
On June 09 of that 2009, the then Finance Adviser Dr AB Mirza Md. Azizul Islam unveiled a Tk 999.62-billion budget for FY2008-09.
That presentation also took place on a Monday and at 3:00pm and was broadcast via Bangladesh Television and Bangladesh Betar.
During the four consecutive terms of the Awami League, Abul Maal Abdul Muhith had presented the budget 10 times, AHM Mustafa Kamal five times, and Abul Hasan Mahmud Ali once -- spanning a total of 15 years and a half. All of those budgets were presented in parliament.
Later, the proposed budgets were discussed in the parliament for a month. The budget for the new fiscal year would have been passed by the parliament by the end of June. Since there is no parliament, there is no opportunity for discussion or debate on this budget.
However, after the budget is announced, the Ministry of Finance will seek opinions from citizens on the proposed budget, according to finance division officials.
They say there will be a menu on the finance division website to get public feedbacks on the budget.
It will be finalised based on the opinions. Thereafter, it will be approved by the Advisory Council in its meeting to be held under the chairmanship of Chief Adviser Prof Yunus any day after June 23, and will be implemented in the form of a presidential ordinance from July 01, 2025.
Saifur Rahman, the former Finance Minister of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government, presented a total of 12 budgets during his three terms in office.
His ministerial tenure spanned December 1976 to October 2006. He served in three different governments and was the longest-serving Finance Minister of Bangladesh. He presented these 12 budgets between 1980-1981, 1991-1996, and 2001-2006.
jasimharoon@yahoo.com